


You've Got a Good Heart

by crowning_glory



Series: ❧ cadnis [1]
Category: Mean Girls (2004), Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Implied Lesbophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 10:06:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17423843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crowning_glory/pseuds/crowning_glory
Summary: ♕Janis needs help with math. Luckily for her, Cady Heron is a self-proclaimed math genius.





	You've Got a Good Heart

**Author's Note:**

> **TW:**  
>  →a very brief mention of lesbophobia.

“This is why I don’t study. It makes me realise how dumb I am,” Janis mumbles to herself, rocking back on her chair as she glares down at the math textbook open on the library desk.

 

She’s never liked math and has never been good at it. But until now she’s always been able to pass (maybe only barely but a C- was a C-), and as long as her other grades were high her parents had let it slide.

 

But this year Janis is failing: her last five quizzes have been handed back with red Fs on them, and her parents have not been happy. So, in exchange for her iPhone back, she has to get her grade up and it’s proving difficult. She’s trying her best and even asked for extra credit work from Ms. Norbury—which is what she’s currently attempting to complete—but she’s getting ready to live the next school year with her dad’s crappy old flip phone.

 

And as much as Janis loves Damian, he’s not very useful when it comes to studying. He’d joined her yesterday but they hadn’t got anything done and Janis was just as clueless about math as she was when she entered the library. So today she thanked him but declined his offer of joining her.

 

She lets all four legs of her chair touch the ground and exhales loudly, tapping her pencil against the edge of the desk. Her eyes scan the pages of the textbook, flicking back and forth between the explanations and the worksheet but nothing is going in and she’s starting to get frustrated.

 

She’s just about to slam the textbook shut when there’s a quiet voice behind her. “Is that math?”

 

“Yeah, it is,” Janis answers as she turns around. She’s struck by the girl’s beauty, barely able to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. Gathering her wits she drops her gaze, turning back to her textbook, and gives a small shrug. “Unfortunately.”

 

“I can help you with that! If you don’t mind of course,” The girl beams, dropping the stack of books she was carrying onto the table before taking the seat opposite Janis’s.

 

“Um, sure, I guess,” Janis nods. She has a hunch that the girl might just be as distracting as Damian. “I’m Janis.”

 

“I know,” the girl answers and Janis is taken aback a little. “Uh,” she shifts awkwardly in her seat. “Regina and the others, they uh…”

 

Janis’s blood runs cold. Of course. She knew that she’d seen this girl before and now she remembers where; trailing after Regina in the hallways, standing behind her in the lunch line. Janis bites her cheek so hard that she can taste blood, and her hands curl into fists under the table. This has to be some sort of sick prank.

 

“Where are they?” She asks, her voice clipped. “They must be around somewhere.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Don’t play dumb. The Plastics. It makes sense that they would sic you on me considering you’re new and all, probably hoping that I don’t recognise you, huh?”

 

The girl recoils, looking almost hurt. “No! I wouldn’t. I just had to check out some books for English and I saw you looking frustrated so I wanted to see if I could help. I’m Cady.”

 

And Janis doesn’t know if she should trust her or not, clenching her jaw as she looks the girl up and down. Every fibre of her being is screaming to leave, but she stays seated and simply gives Cady one curt nod. She needs any help that she can get with math, and that’s all she’s going to let Cady do—help her. As soon as they start getting too friendly Janis will back off. She can’t handle another betrayal by a friend. Not even if she sees it coming.

 

Cady pulls the worksheet towards her, furrowing her eyebrows as she looks over the questions. “These are easy,” she says and Janis scoffs. Cady doesn’t even look up. “I can do them right now in like five minutes if you want.”

 

Janis doesn’t know what posses her to shake her head, so she has to quickly fumble for an explanation when Cady looks at her expectantly. “It’s just that I need to be able to do them in class, too. I’d rather you explain it to me and then I try and work them out. You can correct me once I’m done.”

 

“Oh, okay,” Cady says, meeting Janis’s gaze. “That works too!”

 

So she moves to Janis’s side of the table and talks her through the problems. Janis manages to get the majority that she works on right, and when she gets one wrong Cady lets out the most adorable giggle that Janis has ever heard and fills in the right answer with her pencil.

 

And Janis hates herself because she knows that this girl is off limits—she’s one of Regina’s cronies for God’s sake, and this whole thing is more than likely just an elaborate prank—but butterflies still erupt in her stomach when their hands brush as they both go to turn the page and Janis doesn’t think she’s ever fallen for someone so fast.

 

She’s almost sad when the librarian announces that the library will be closing soon and forces them to gather up their stuff. They walk side by side to the cloakroom and Janis gets ready to head outside into the cold as slowly as possible to spend more time with Cady.

 

“Hey, uh, if you’re really having that much trouble with math I could tutor you?” Cady says as Janis pulls the door open. She reaches out and places a hand on Janis’s forearm. “If you give me your number I can text you my address and we can sort a day and time for you to come over?”

 

Janis almost faints, stuttering out a lame “okay,” before pulling her flip phone out of her pocket. “This isn’t my actual phone,” she clarifies, “but my parents took away my smartphone because I’m failing math.”

 

“Hopefully my help will be enough to get it back,” Cady grins, taking the phone from Janis’s hand, setting up a contact and typing in her number. She hands it back before she steps out of the library, small snowflakes landing in her hair. “See you around, Janis!”

 

Janis waves to her, watching as she walks away.

 

Fuck. She has a crush. On one of Regina’s little followers of all people.

 

* * *

 

Damian is practically vibrating with excitement when Janis tells him about it after school the next day. They’re sat in Janis’s garage, bowls of popcorn in their laps as Disney movies play in the background. It’s an edited version of the encounter, sure, she omits the part about Cady being one of Regina’s friends, but she doesn’t change it too much.

 

“I’m fairly certain she’s straight though,” Janis says as she stretches out across the couch. “And, like, it’s not going to go anywhere, but maybe having a cute girl help me with math is just what I need.”

 

“If it means you don’t have to use that shitty phone anymore then I’m so for it,” Damian says. Janis chucks a piece of popcorn at him. “What? I get second hand embarrassment every time you pull it out.”

 

Janis raises her eyebrows. “Try giving it to your crush to get her number.”

 

Damian’s hand flies to his mouth, trying and failing to hide his laughter. “I didn’t even think about that!” He roars, throwing his head back. “If there was _any_ chance of her liking you back then it’s gone now.”

 

“You’re an asshole,” Janis responds, rolling her eyes at him. She goes to throw more popcorn at him, but her fingers graze an empty bowl. “I’m gonna go refill. Do you want another can of soda?”

 

She heads upstairs after Damian tells her what soda he wants, bowl tucked under her arm. Padding into the kitchen she waves at her parents when she catches her mom’s gaze from the living room and grabs a pouch of the microwave popcorn stashed in the cupboard.

 

Setting it to microwave, she leans against the counter and closes her eyes, only opening them when her phone goes off. She cringes at the old ringtone but quickly pulls it out of her pocket, pressing it to her ear without checking who it was that was calling.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Hi!” Cady chirps and warmth blossoms in Janis’s chest as she imagines the smile on the other girl’s face. “I was just wondering whether you got my text about tomorrow?”

 

Janis frowns. “Tomorrow?” she racks her brains, trying to remember if she’d read any text, but comes up empty. “I must have missed it, sorry.”

 

“That’s fine, don’t worry! I was just wondering if you wanted to come over at around ten?” Cady asks. “My parents are going to be gone for the day, and you have a test on Monday, don’t you?”

 

Janis wrinkles her nose. She had been trying not to think about the test as much as possible. “Yeah, I do,” she says, and it doesn’t even occur to ask Cady how she knew about that when she wasn’t even in Janis’s class. “And sure, ten sounds good.”

 

“Okay, see you then,” Cady says and the line goes dead. Janis stares at the tiny screen for a couple of seconds afterwards before pocketing her phone when the microwave beeps.

 

She empties the popcorn into her bowl, grabs a can of soda from the fridge for Damian and smiles at her parents as she heads back into the garage. She takes her place on the couch after handing the soda to Damian and promptly stuffs a handful of popcorn in her mouth when Damian asks who she was talking to on the phone so that she doesn’t have to answer. She’ll tell him tomorrow after she’s been to Cady’s house, she decides, because if she tells him now it’ll only make him want to come.

 

Janis doesn’t think that Cady is ready for Damian just yet.

 

* * *

 

Cady’s room is a lot nicer than Janis’s.

 

It’s actually tidy for one, and it’s a lot bigger but less cluttered. Janis takes a seat in Cady’s desk chair, hanging her backpack on the back of it as she gets out her supplies and textbook and waits for Cady to return from the kitchen where she was getting them drinks.

 

She busies herself looking around the room at the framed pictures that Cady has. They’re cute, mostly of Cady posing with various animals. Janis knows that Cady is new, and she knows that she’s not from the US from her slight accent, but she’s obviously never talked to the girl long enough to ask where she was actually from. Damian would probably know (Janis swears that he could rival Gretchen with all of the gossip her knows), but it’s not as if Janis can ask him right now.

 

Cady returns, tossing a bottle of water at Janis who just about catches it. She thanks the girl and Cady sits cross-legged on her bed, beckoning for Janis to join her.

 

She looks cute today, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She’s wearing an oversized jumper and a pair of leggings. Odd socks too, which Janis thinks is adorable.

 

“I’m a mess,” she laughs when she catches Janis staring. “I don’t like to get dressed up on the weekends, sorry.”

 

Janis shakes her head. “It’s fine,” she gestures to her own outfit. “I’m not exactly dressed to meet the president either.”

 

“I think you look nice,” Cady smiles and it’s probably from the cold, but Janis notices that the girl’s cheeks are slightly red. Janis can feel heat rushing to her own cheeks.

 

She thanks Cady, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Why she’s so flustered over a compliment, Janis doesn’t know, but she quickly springs up to grab her textbook from Cady’s desk and changes the subject.

 

Cady’s good at tutoring. Her explanations are easy to follow, and she doesn’t get mad when Janis asks her to repeat things. They don’t get distracted either, they take a few breaks every now and then, but they never seem to lose their focus.

 

It’s one of the only times that Janis can think of that she’s actually enjoyed studying math.

 

It’s dark by the time that Cady’s parents come back. They’re making up a set of flashcards when they hear the keys in the lock. Cady doesn’t even look up until Mrs. Heron knocks on the door and smiles at the pair of them. She opens her mouth to say something, but Janis assumes that Cady either shakes her head or makes a face because she closes it and just gives them a small wave before she leaves again.

 

“She’s embarrassing,” Cady huffs, capping her gel pen. “I don’t know what she was going to say but it would more than likely be some terrible pun or something.”

 

Janis laughs at that, putting her pen down and flopping back against Cady’s pillows. “I wouldn’t have minded that.”

 

“No, you would have,” Cady says, joining Janis. “Trust me. She thinks she’s hilarious but she’s really not.”

 

“Sounds like my mom,” Janis giggles. “Anyway, if your parents are here I should probably get going. My mom will be furious if I miss dinner.”

 

And Janis doesn’t really want to leave, but she feels awkward now that Cady’s parents are there. Besides, they’ve covered most of what they set out to do and Janis is sure she can figure out the rest on her own (or maybe she’ll just text Cady a lot until she manages to understand it). She feels a lot more prepared for this test than she has about any test and she really hopes that all of the work pays off. Partly so she can get her phone back and partly because if Cady’s tutoring is working that means that it can continue.

 

They hover in the entryway for a while whilst Janis gets her coat, hat and gloves on, talking about school. Cady wrinkles her nose when she talks about the Plastics, and mentions something about a ‘burn book’ that they write mean things in.

 

When Janis asks what they’ve written about her Cady freezes for a second before letting out a nervous laugh. “You’re not in it,” she says and Janis doesn’t believe her but she doesn’t want to push.

 

Instead, she kicks the coatstand softly and whisper-yells, “those bitches!” so that Cady’s parents don’t hear. Cady laughs, shaking her head slightly.

 

“You’d better head home,” she says, placing a hand on Janis’s back as she ushers her to the front door. “Not that I’m trying to get rid of you or anything, but it’s already starting to get dark. Text me when you’re home, okay?”

 

And Janis doesn’t know why that makes her so happy but she thinks about it all the way home, so caught up in her own mind that once she does get home she barely remembers to do it.

 

* * *

 

Okay, so Janis definitely has a thing for Cady.

 

They’re meeting every day after school now, and more often than not they don’t even focus on math. Janis will fill Cady in on things that she and Damian talk about at lunch and Cady will do the same, only with the Plastics instead.

 

“I wish I could join you and Damian,” Cady says one day, sat on the floor as Janis braids her hair. “But Regina would have my head. You know what she’s like.”

 

And Janis does. Too well. Just the suggestion of Regina taking revenge against Cady makes Janis feel sick; the girl doesn’t deserve that. Janis has already let herself be destroyed by the blonde-haired Barbie, and she won’t let it happen to Cady. So she advises her to stay put because being with Regina might suck but being against her is definitely worse. Janis has a pretty thick skin now, but those first few months after she returned to North Shore were absolutely horrible and there’s only one person that Janis would wish that on: Regina herself.

 

“If you want to get out then you’re going to have to take down Regina,” Janis shrugs, tying off the braid with a hair band. “But that will take months of planning, and although Damian and I will be glad to help you with that, we can’t exactly help you with the execution.”

 

Cady sighs. “It just sucks not being able to hang out with you at school. I miss you when we're not together.”

 

There’s a stunned silence as both of them take in what had just been said, and when Janis glance down at Cady the girl’s face is beet red.

 

Neither of them say anything for a few minutes. Janis’s mind is reeling and she resists the urge to call Damian and scream into the phone for a solid hour. Cady just admitted that she _misses_ Janis when they’re not together. And maybe she means it platonically but by Cady’s reaction, Janis is assuming that that’s bullshit.

 

Cady clears her throat, getting up from her position on the floor. She crosses her room, seizing the math textbook on her desk. “Um. We should probably work on this.”

 

“Yeah,” Janis nods, blinking back tears. Cady refusing to acknowledge what she’d said hurts Janis more than she’s willing to admit.

 

So they study and it’s frustrating because Cady is acting as if nothing has happened whereas Janis is unable to focus because those words circle around and around in her mind. But she doesn’t want to bring it up because that will definitely ruin things.

 

She leaves with those words still swirling in her head.

 

* * *

 

Janis's grade improves enough to get her phone back.

 

Thanksgiving and Christmas go by fast and suddenly valentine’s day is approaching quickly. Janis always delights in the chaos that the day brings and so she, personally, can’t wait for it. Damian is just in it for the discounted candies on the fifteenth and Janis can’t blame him at all, because that’s definitely a perk too.

 

She and Cady don’t speak as much as they used to since Cady admitted that she missed Janis. They still meet up although it’s dropped to twice a week and they’ve gone back to studying math. Whilst Janis isn’t complaining about her grade, she misses being friends, but Cady refuses to address the situation. She’ll go quiet, or make up an excuse as to why Janis has to leave whenever she tries to bring it up and it hurts but she doesn’t know how to deal with it.

 

Damian doesn’t even have any advice to offer when Janis finally tells him everything. He just sighs and rubs her back and tells her that sometimes the worlds is cruel. And Janis agrees, wishing that she’d stuck to her gut feeling when she’d first met Cady. She should have just left the library and struggled with algebra alone, and maybe she wouldn’t have had her phone given back but she also wouldn’t have to deal with all of the confusing feelings.

 

On valentines day she and Damian decide to wear matching bowties to school. Damian goes in a full red suit, in charge of handing out the valentine’s candy and notes, but Janis just wears a dress shirt with her jeans and puts on the bowtie when Damian hands it to her on the walk to school.

 

Once they get there Damian scarpers off to the valentine’s booth whilst Janis heads to the library and hunkers down in there until the bell rings. She sees Damian on the way to first period, and there’s a glint in his eye when he high-fives her. Janis doesn’t know why but it makes her feel almost uneasy and she spends the entirety of first period on edge.

 

The answer comes in third period. Damian bursts into the room, being impossibly dramatic as he makes the rounds around the class, handing out the tiny packages of heart-shaped gummies with their attached notes.

 

She almost falls backwards off her chair when he hands one to her, grinning.

 

“Looks like all is not lost,” he whispers as she fumbles to check the tag.

 

_Meet me by the bike shelter at lunch. C x_

 

She waits until Damian is gone to slump forward and let out a quiet “holy shit.”

 

Janis can’t keep still in fourth period and as soon as the bell rings she’s out of the classroom door and pushing through the crowded hallway to get to the school entrance. It takes all of her willpower not to sprint around the building to the bike shelter.

 

She uses the walk to gather up her thoughts and try to slow down her pounding heart. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything—maybe Cady just wants to meet up without the Plastics knowing. It’s not as if Cady can just call her in front of them—and so she tries not to get her hopes up.

 

It’s just as cold as it was in December, and Cady is bundled up in her hot pink puffer jacket that Janis could spot from a mile away. She waves at Janis as she gets closer, and the first thing that Janis notices is how red her cheeks are and how Cady’s shuffling from foot to foot like she does when she’s nervous.

 

“Hi,” she says when Janis stops in front of her.

 

Janis holds up the note. “You summoned me?”

 

“Listen, I have to be quick ‘cause the others are expecting me back at the table,” Cady leans in. “I panicked and told them that I was going out to smoke, so…”

 

Janis laughs at that. The thought of Cady smoking is definitely comical, that’s for sure.

 

“Go on, then.”

 

“I’ve been a bitch,” Cady starts. She looks down at her gloves, tugging on the fingertips as she speaks. “No. I’ve been more than a bitch. I’ve been pulling away from you because I don’t know how to deal with my own feelings, and it’s not fair. I like you, Janis. Like, like _like_ you and I’ve never liked someone like that before so I panicked. And it’s just--it’s not fair and you don’t deserve that. So I wanted to apologise and it’s okay if you don’t want to accept it.”

 

“Cady--”

 

“I’m, uh, I’m not finished,” Cady says softly, breathlessly, meeting Janis’s gaze with red-rimmed eyes. Janis closes her mouth and signals for Cady to carry on. “You’re the first girl that I’ve ever liked and that… that freaked me out because Regina and Gretchen… well, they’re not exactly welcoming of that, y’know?”

 

And Janis knows. Oh God, she knows.

 

But I’ve decided fuck them. I can’t keep this a secret anymore, Janis. It’s killing me. I need you to know that I love you. Like, _love_ you.”

 

“Cady,” Janis repeats, stepping forward. Her breath puffs out in front of her. The tip of Cady’s nose is bright red and she looks adorable. “I’ve been waiting for you to say this for so long.”

 

And then she places her hands on Cady’s cheeks and leans forward to kiss her. Cady kisses back and Janis can’t believe that it’s taken them this long.

 

They pull apart and Janis is absolutely giddy. She grins at Cady and Cady grins back and the pair of them touch foreheads, staring into the others’ eyes.

 

"I guess now is a good time to ask,” Cady giggles, taking Janis’s gloved hands in her own. “Janis Sarkisian will you be my girlfriend?”

 

And the words sound even better spoken aloud than they did spoken by Janis’s imagination and tears well up in her eyes. She takes a deep breath, wipes her cheeks and takes Cady’s hands again before choking out her answer.

 

“Of course, Cady Heron. I’d love to.”

 

They stand there together for what feels like a lifetime until Cady’s phone buzzes in her pocket and her face drops.

 

“I gotta go,” she says quickly. “They’re wondering where I am,” she presses another kiss to Janis’s lips that takes the other girl by surprise. “Meet me out front after school? We can go get food. Our first proper date.”

 

As soon as Cady is out of sight, Janis sinks to the floor. She doesn’t care if other people see her because she’s so goddamn happy that she could burst.

 

From then on when Janis thinks about math her top lip no longer curls with disgust.

 

Instead, she smiles and her cheeks glow and she glances to Cady because where would they be without math?

**Author's Note:**

> ⋆[pinterest.](https://pin.it/axdt62ze5gutav)  
> ⋆[twitter.](https://twitter.com/crowning_gloryy)


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